Saltburn nannas knit jumpers for penguins hit by oil spills

Little jumpers knitted by grandmothers are being used to prevent penguins caught in oil spills from getting ill while trying to clean their feathers.

Dubbing themselves the Knitting Nannas, the group based at Hazelgrove Court Care Home in Saltburn, Teesside, have been sending their mini creations to a charity in Australia.

The woolly tops are used as a barrier to stop the birds ingesting toxic chemicals when they try to preen themselves after swimming through oil.

Joyce Baxtrem, 94, explained that she has knitted jumpers for both her children but she had “never knit for a penguin” before.

Phillip Island, south of Melbourne, is home to 40,000 penguins and preparation is ongoing to help look after them in the event of an oil spill.

Rehabilitation jumpers can be temporarily placed on an affected penguin until its feathers can be cleaned by rescue workers.

Hazelgrove activities co-ordinator Sharon Lewis said she loves finding worthwhile projects for the knitting group.

“We have now posted them to Australia and we’ve been in touch with the charity to make sure they arrived safely.

“The residents love getting involved and using their lifelong skills to support others.

“It gives them a sense of purpose and pride and it’s always incredible to receive pictures of cute animals wearing their knitted items.”

Joyce Wooffindin, 83, could not believe she was creating clothes for penguins but said: “This is the sort of thing we do at Hazelgrove.”

Thanking the Knitting Nannas, Rebecca Passlow from The Penguin Foundation said “generous knitters and groups from all around the world” have been making jumpers to help.

In the past, the nannas have also knitted blankets for baby rhinos, which were sent to a wild rhino sanctuary in South Africa.